Machines and recipes

A machine is a virtual machine inside a workspace. A recipe is the blueprint that built it. A stack is a service installed on top. This page covers everything you can do at the machine level.

Open a machine#

From the workspace card, click Console to enter the workspace console. The left rail of the console lists every machine in the workspace; click one to focus its terminal in the center pane. From inside the console you can:

Terminal: a live shell on the machine, in xterm.js. Multiple shells per machine supported.
VS Code (port view): if the machine has the VS Code stack, a port view button opens the code-server UI in a new tab.
Port view: any port the recipe declared (e.g. 3000 for a dev server) gets a button in the top bar to open it through a temporary HTTPS URL.
AI / Chat: the right pane has an AI assistant tab and a Chat tab for talking to other members in the workspace.

See Workspace console for the full layout walkthrough.

Expose a port#

Need to share a dev server with a teammate, or open a database UI to a candidate? On the Ports tab, click Expose next to the port number. EasyEnv generates a temporary public URL that proxies to the machine.

The URL is temporary

Exposed URLs expire when the workspace is Stopped or hits its Duration. They are not meant for production traffic.

Add a stack#

A stack is a service or addon installed onto an already-running machine. Where a recipe builds the whole machine from scratch (OS image, base packages, services), a stack recipe is a smaller piece of automation that runs once on top of an existing machine to install one specific thing.

Recipe vs stack recipe, in one line

Recipe builds the machine. Stack recipe attaches things to a machine that's already running. Same idea, different scope.

Catalog stack recipes#

Every stack in the dashboard's Add Stacks grid maps to one of these. The k8s-only stacks at the bottom of the list are only enabled when the chosen recipe is a Kubernetes cluster.

Field	Type	Description
GitHub	general	Clone a repository when the machine starts. Supports private repos through your connected GitHub account.
Claude	general	Install the Claude Code CLI. Run `claude` on the machine and follow the sign-in prompt to authenticate.
Bash	general	Install bash + oh-my-bash and append a custom snippet to ~/.bashrc.
Zsh	general	Install zsh + oh-my-zsh and append a custom snippet to ~/.zshrc.
Ansible	general	Run an Ansible playbook against the machine when it starts. Pass the playbook YAML in the inline editor.
VS Code	general	Install code-server so the machine can be used as a remote VS Code workspace. Surface comes through a Port View button in the console.
Docker Image	general	Pull one or more Docker images from a registry; the first runs as a container. Private hosts authenticate via the registries you saved in account settings.
Dockerfile	general	Paste a Dockerfile, build the image at boot, and run it as a container.
Docker Compose	general	Bring up a docker-compose.yml at boot. Docker and the Compose plugin are installed automatically if not present.
Helm / Kustomize / ArgoCD / FluxCD / cert-manager / Traefik / Longhorn / Cilium / Calico / Kubernetes Gateway API / Istio Ingress Gateway / Prometheus + Grafana / k9s	k8s only	These tiles are muted unless the recipe is a Kubernetes cluster (k3s, kind, k8s_cluster*). They install the corresponding addon into the cluster on boot.

Add a stack from the dashboard#

Stacks are attached per machine, in step 2 of the Add Machines wizard step (or any time you click + Add Machine on a running workspace). Inside the Add a Machine modal, you go from Pick a Recipe → Add Stacks → Resources; the Add Stacks panel is a grid of every catalog stack with a search box on top.

Open the workspace and click + Add Machine
You can also do this on an existing machine by editing the workspace and reopening the modal at the Add Stacks step.
Pick the recipe
The recipe determines which stacks are eligible. K8s-only stacks (Helm, ArgoCD, Cilium, etc.) only enable when the recipe is k3s, kind, or another k8s_cluster recipe.
Toggle stacks
Click the stack tile to add it. Some stacks open a config form inline: GitHub asks for a repo URL, Docker Image takes an image list, Bash and Ansible give you a code editor for the script.
Confirm Resources and Add Machine
Step 3 is sliders for vCPU, RAM, and disk. Hit Add Machine to push it into the workspace draft.

Add a stack from the CLI#

Same operation, scripted. Catalog form:

bash

easyenv stack add \
  --workspace api-stack \
  --machine api-1 \
  --stack docker-run \
  --var image=nginx:latest

See the CLI stack reference for the full flag set.

When to reach for a stack vs a new recipe#

One-off addition for one machine: stack. Cheaper than maintaining a custom recipe.
Same change on every workspace your team boots: bake it into the recipe (or fork the recipe). A stack you have to remember to attach is a stack that will eventually be forgotten.
Setting up a "broken" challenge: a tiny break-it stack on top of a known-good recipe is the cleanest way to author a hands-on challenge - the recipe stays reusable for non-interview workspaces.

SSH keys#

Each member's SSH public key is automatically pushed to every machine they can reach. Manage your keys at /dashboard/[account]/profile/keys. Removing a key revokes access to every running machine within seconds.

View boot and recipe logs#

Cloud-init and Ansible logs surface in the workspace audit (Audit button on a stopped or failed card). If you are debugging a custom recipe, this is where you will see your raise messages and Ansible task output.

Browse the recipe catalog#

The full list of recipes available to your account is at /catalog. Each recipe has a description, the OS image it targets, the packages it installs, and the services it starts.